Washer for coal and the like



Aug. 23, 1938. H. B. SLATER WASHER FOR COAL AND THE LIKE Filed June 25, 1936 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. Homin- BJLATkz.

ATTORNEY.

M dubs? sum. 23 2E ,aww W i Aug. 23, 1938. H. B. SLATER WASHER FOR com, AND THE LIKE Filed June 25, 1936 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Hanan. B-Jl-ATE-Id.

filh ATTORNEY.

Aug. 23, 1938.

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I 3 3 II a H. B. SLATER 2,127,987

WASHER FOR COAL AND THE LIKE Filed June 25, 1936 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 mm LAUNDER, I ""6 MAIN LAUNDE-Ru MAIN LAUHDER/ REWASH LAUNDEL INVENTOR. Home; bJLA-rzm.

ATTORNEY.

Aug. 23, 1938. H. B. SLATER WASHER FOR com, AND THE LIKE 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed June 25, 1936 TOR. i

COHVE.

CONVEYOR, 2

IN VENTOR. Human BJLA-rzw.

BAR. SCREEN Aug.-Z3, 1938. H. B. SLATER WASHER FOR COAL AND THE LIKE Filed June 25, 1936 w m kN & w Q M QN an O m m5 W 6 H Ill H AW I- lll hieli I u THIIIIIIU 4 UHJHMIMIIU v hhfimmu IL F||l|l|ll||l| Y W mh B N u fl Q: 7 WWW nnrnwlnm I H mu NM hn l M? Wm. QM LN l2! m w q H fi I l u H I: ll T ||l|| in r l ||1||. r r Q N N NW WW Aug. 23, 1938. H. B. SLATER WASHER FOR COAL AND THE LIKE 6 Sheets-Shet 6 Filed June 25, 1936 INVENTOR. Hanan BJLA-mz.

Patented Aug. 23, 1938 WASHER FOR COAL AND THE LIKE Homer B. Slater. Pittsburgh, Pa., assignor to Koppers-Rheolavcur Company, a corporation of Delaware Application June 25, 1936, Serial No. 87,276

(Cl. INN-155) 3 Claims.

The present invention relates to apparatus for washing assorted minerals wherein they are classlfled, separated and recovered according to their specific graviti'es by means of the alluvial action of flowing liquids. It pertains particularly to that type of washing system known as the Rheolaveur, the basic principles of which have been patented by Habets and France, and by France in United States Patents Nos. 1,197,932

and 1,441,571 respectively, and comprehends more especially changes and innovations in design and arrangement of the sorting apparatus and its required mechanical accessories that effect reat simplification in their assembly and accessibility, and in the resulting structure itself.

An object of the invention is an improved disposition of the elements of wet sortingapparatus of the above-mentioned type so that sorting plants of a given capacity rating will demand less space and material than was formerly the case and will havetheir mechanical features so oriented in assembly that the sorting apparatus and its functional accessories are included and supported within an embodying structural framework in a manner to form a self-contained and ufllcient unit that is independent of and has no association with the surrounding building or protection save for the supporting floor or substructure.

Another object of the invention is to provide a unit sorting apparatus of the Rheolaveur type with such design that not only will the unit be self-contained but will also serve as a structural element and basic unit by means of which the increased requirements of an existing plant may be met by the simple expedient of adding another of the self-contained units to the existing aggregate, or a proposed installation may be formed from as many of these building blocks as are required to meet the demands of a proposed capacity.

The development of such a standard unit provides .a reduction of material, construction and engineering costs, and in operation proves of advantage in that the individual units may be placed in juxtaposition thereby giving improved utilization of available space and also providing shorter lengths of travel for the material being processed so that less disintegration thereof takes place.

From a preferred disposition and assembly scheme for the launders and their associated elevator conveyors, and from the thereby required structural innovations, arrangement and designs for certain of the mechanical devices, that function to efiect the washing results, so that they could be included within the limits of the planned structure, the hereinafter described self -contained washing unit for classifying minerals by the stream action of water and according to their specific gravity. hasbeen developed. The inventic-n has for further objects such other improvements and such other operative advantages or results as may be found to obtain in the processes or apparatus hereinafter described or claimed.

The improvement in design and the structural simplification which it effects, will be more simply understood and set forth by reference to the following drawings, in which the same characters of reference designate the same parts in each of the views of the apparatus; In the drawings,

Figure 1 shows a longitudinal view in elevation of a standard washing unit incorporating features of the present improvement and comprising a main launder and a rewash launder with four boxes for the discharge of the classified heavy gravity material, each discharging box being supplied with an evacuating conveyor. I

Figure 2 is a sectional view through the line II-II of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a view through the line HL-III oi Fi ure 1.

Figure 4 is a plan view of the standard selfcontained washing unit along the line IV-IV of Figure 1, showing the general arrangement of the two launders, their discharging boxes for the heavy gravity material, the elevator conveyor, associated with each evacuating box, and the cross conveyors at the head of the launders.

Figure 5 is a sectional view through the line VV of Figure 1, showing diagrammatically the cross conveyor which transports materials from elevator conveyors I and l to the rewash launder.

Figure 6 is an end view in elevation 01' the standard washing unit on the line VI-VI of Figure 1.

Figure 7 is a plan view of the driving mecha- Figure 13 is a cross-sectional view in elevation of the ball and socket bearing 24 in Figure 12.

Figure 14 shows an enlarged view, parts in section, of the arrangement of the coupling device, 20 and I! of Figure 12, between the reducer of the driving mechanism and the sprocket shaft of the elevator conveyors.

Figure 15 shows in perspective a view of the take-up bearing of the elevating conveyor sprockets.

Upon the nature of the raw material and the distribution within it of the various constituents which it comprises. depends the washing procedure and the scheme of material flow used in any particular installation for the separation of a material into its high and low gravity components. The emciency with which this objective is effected, results from a combination of many factors, of which an important one is the state of segregation of the diverse entities in the material to be treated. In those instances where the initial product has only a small percentage of sizes that lie in a specific gravity range between the two extremes represented in the untreated product, the effecting of a separation and the flow sheet of the material in process will be more simple than where there is great intermingling of the components within the grains and sizes of the material to be processed. This latter case may require re-cvcling of the partially separated products through the process, and in certain instances, additional screening, grindin tc., before being re-cycled.

In the following example, given for the purpose of exempliflcation only and to serve as an expository basis for describing this improved and novel design for washing apparatus of this type, it will be considered that a raw material is being treated, at such rate, that a satisfactory separation and recovery of the various components, which will meet the specified requirements, can be effected in a main launder and a rewash launder each of which is provided with two discharging or evacuating boxes and two evacuating conveyors for re-cycling, mixing and removing the end products from the washing system.

Referring now to Figures 1, 2, 3 and 4, within and supported by the steel framework structure I are shown the main and rewash launders 5 and 6, with their respective evacuating conveyors I, 2 and I, 4 into the lower ends of which are discharged the heavy gravity concentrates from the evacuating boxes I, 9 and Ill, II respectively. The launders are arranged in the center of the steel structure I and supported by the same, and the rewash materials are brought to them from both sides. The four evacuating conveyor sheaths originate at the chutes, as II, 52, positioned beneath their respective evacuating boxes, and rise to converge on the drive shaft I 8 where they are hung at their head ends upon an adjacent member of the structure I which is also needed for other purposes. This eliminates the necessity of any supporting structural steel below the conveyor sheaths and any tendency to buckling of the side plates thereof resulting from the concentrating of load on such supports.

Because of the welded construction of the evacuating boxes, the launders and their conveyor sheaths, it is possible to place said sheaths and launders nearly flush, so that the width of the plant is fixed by the total width of the launders and evacuating conveyors plus the thickness of the plates and a one inch clearance between them to facilitate erection.

The flap gates is within the evacuating boxes are given an oscillatory motion by means of the motor I3, the'movement of which is translated by rods I4, I5, I6, to the flap gates by means of the links I2. The slide gates I1, within the evacuating boxes'at the ends of the rods its, that co-act with said flap gates to control the rate at which the heavy gravity materials discharge from the launders by providing means for increasing or diminishing the area of the passageway formed between the oscillating and the slide gates, are placed into preferred positions by proper adjustment of the controlling levers "a.

In my improvement, the levers I2 are positioned outside of the evacuating boxes and laterally thereof in order not to disturb the liquid currents and the segregation of materials-that have been established within the launders and also to obviate their collecting adventitious material such as fuse wires and the like used in mining operations and which, if permitted to accumulate thereon, tend to disturb sorting conditions in the launders. As will be noted in Figures 1, 3, 4, the launders and associated conveyor sheaths are so closely adjacent at points near the evacuating boxes 8, II), that too little space is available therebetween to attach an actuating lever to the shaft of the flap-gate is directly from the drive-shafts I5 and I8. The shafts i3, 54, that support the flap-gates in the boxes I, II, respectively, are therefore extended outwardly through the adjacent shells of the sheaths of conveyors I, 3, and thereacross to pass through the opposite sides thereof through stuffing-boxes to prevent leakage of water therefrom since the surface of the water contained in said sheaths lies at a level above shafts 53, 54. Cranks ii are attached to these flap-gate shafts, and these in turn-are actuated from the drive-shaft I by means of links I2, 56 and other cranks II, I! that are attached-to the shafts 00 positioned on the lower top-parts of the sheaths I, 3. The unoccupied spaces, between conveyor sheaths 2, 4, and the launders, which are provided by the shorter lengthwise dimensions and greater inclination of the sheaths I, I, are thereby utilized to keep the actuating mechanism for the abovementioned flapgates within the framework of the unit washing structure.

The evacuating conveyors I, 2, 3 and 4 in Figures 1 and 4 extend parallel with and closely adjacent the launders as shown. The washing products, discharged from the evacuating boxes beneath the launders, collect within the lower part of the conveyor sheaths and are transported upward by the conveyor flights I90, that travel in the direction indicated by the arrows, to be discharged at the evacuating conveyor heads through the various chutes, indicated in Figures 8to 11, for reintroduction into the launders or for discharge from the system as preferred. The driving mechanism for all the conveyors is the motor 20, in Figure '7, the power from which is transmitted by belt 2| to the speed reducer 22, and the rotation of which actuates the shaft II to which the sprocket wheels 23 are made fast. The teeth on the sprocket wheels are so designed as to engage the evacuating conveyor chains bearing the conveyor flights Isa. The rates at which heavier gravity materials are discharged from the different evacuating boxes is not uniform. In general, less material is discharged from the boxes 8, I0, than from those at the lower ends of the launders. In my unit washing plant, the disposition of the conveyors is such 76 that they slope to a certain degree in proportion to the amounts of material each conveyor is required to transport so that their uniform speed of rotation, provided by a common driveshaft and uniformly sized sprocket-wheels will remove the heavier gravity materials as fast as they are discharged from the Rheo. boxes and extensive accumulation thereof at the conveyor boats avoided. It is obvious that as the inclinations of the conveyors approach the horizontal, each conveyor flight is able to carry a greater load, while the converse is true as their angles of inclination approach the vertical. This arrangement permitting all the evacuating conveyors to be driven from one shaft constitutes a novel design for the purpose and avoids the more complicated drive systems of the prior art. An accompanying advantage is the reduc tion of the length of evacuating conveyor discharge chutes which results in a conservation of space and a decrease in the lengthwise dimension of the unit.

The width of the plant being substantially restricted to the width of thelaunders and conveyors, insuflicient space remained in which to provide the usual protection, such as a flexible coupling with a bearing between the coupling and the load, for the reducer 22 on the drive. To circumvent this situation and devise a coupling device which would function to eliminate the detrimental effects. to the reducer and the bearing 24 of the shaft l8, of any misal gnment or maladjustments existing between said reducer rangement is provided. The shaft l8. in Figure 12, is of the floating type to which are ailixed the sprocket wheels 23 that actuate the evacuatthrough belt 2|.

ing conveyor flight chains. The shaft 25 cat ries the reducing gear driven by the motor. 28 The outer ends of the shafts l8 situated on both sides of the reducing gear 22, are supported in the ball and socket bearings 24, the interior arrangement of which is shown in section in Figure 13. The coupling device between a floating shaft l8 and the shaft 28 is shown diagrammatically in Figure 12, and in enlarged view and partially in section in Figure 14, and comprises a rigid half coupling 26 as-' sembled on the floating shaft l8 and a floating self-aligning half coupling 21 of the fast typekeyed to the driving shaft 25, the two couplings being held rigidly together by 'the bolts 28. Any misalignment of the floating shaft, will be compensated for in the splines 29 of the half coupling 21,

A coupling of this type makes possible an angularity in the rotation of the floating shaft 18: and the bearing 24, supporting the opposite end of the shaft i8 being of the ball and socket type. can be adjusted at the surfaces 30 to compensate for the angularity in position which the shaft l8 may assume after the couplings 28, 21 have been made fast by bolts 28. In this manner, the shaft 18 can assume an angular position with reference to the horizontal, but still be in alignment with the roller bearings 3| themselves, and the necessity forusing bearings on the shaft i 8 adjacent the reducing gear shaft 25 is eliminated, as well as the necessity of maintaining such hearings in alignment. While this idea is embodied using particular means, other devices may be used without departing from the spirit of my intent.

The cross conveyors 35, 48, two in number situated beneath the heads of the evacuating conveyors, supported by the steel structure I, and which function to distribute, to mix or to separate the various intermediate washing products in any preferred manner as required by the characteristics of the material undergoing treatment, are shown in the drawings in Figures 2, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10 and 11. In the following example given as exempliflcation of one method in which this washing unit may operate, the raw material is introduced at the head of the launder and after passing over the distributing battle-plate 32 descends into a current of water flowing into the launder through nozzle 33. The raw material is carried along by the stream action of the water flowing down the launder toward the evacuating boxes 8, 3. The velocity of the water is so regulated that the lighter gravity particles. are borne in the current of the stream, while the heavier gravity materials sink to the bottom where 'as they accumulate they gradually sink into the discharge box 8.

Between the specific gravities represented by the heaviest and lightest products in the raw material, there is a class of products known as the middlings, the densities of which lie at innumerable points within the density range limits of the constituents of the raw material. The density and size of the individual grains of these products belonging to the middlings classes, determines the point at which they will be deposited in the washing system. Some may appear admixed with the heavy gravity materials at evacuating box 8, a higher proportion at box 9, and fliose more nearly approaching the specific gravity' of the lightest substance may be found in that material as it is discharged from the launder at some point as A.

The heaviest products will segregate and collect in the boot of the evacuating elevator l, and

-in order to remove from these heavy gravity products as much as possible of the middle gravity products which may have separated incidentally at box 8, this entire quantity of material may be sent to the rewash launder 6, to be again treated under new conditions of stream action for the removal of entrained lighter gravity constituents and middlings. The transfer of this material from the bottom of the evacuating conveyor I to the rewash launder 6 is effected by the upward movement of the associated conveyor chain to which the conveyor flights are attached. The material arriving at the evacuating conveyor head, Figures 4, 5 and 10, is discharged through opening 34 onto the iron plate 36 and forced along by conveyor 35 to the end of the plate 36, where it falls, as shown by the arrows in Figure 5,to the bottom of the cross-conveyor sheath and is introduced into the head of the rewash launder by the return trip of the cross conveyor 35 after it has passed over pulley 31.

The middle gravity materials which have collected in the boot of the evacuating conveyor 2 and which have entrained some of the lightest gravity materials as well as certain sizes of the raw material which are advantageous in the washing system for regulating purposes, are returned-to the main launder 5, from which they were previously separated, to be rewashed. Accordingly, this intermediate product is discharged at the head of conveyor 2 through opening 38 onto the cross conveyor plate 39 shown in Figures 1, 2 and 11, by means of the associated chute, and is carried by the cross-conveyor 40 along plate 39 to the end of the plate, and is reintroduced into the main launder 5 upon the return trip of the cross-conveyor 40 after it has passed over pulley 4!.

The product separated at evacuating box ill of the rewash launder consists primarily of the heaviest gravity materials and may be sent to the refuse dump as shown in Figure 9; or, the smaller sizes therein contained, and which may still be of some advantage in the washing system by virtue of their ability to fill the interstices between the larger sizes in the lower layer of heavy gravity materials classified in the launder to displace possibly entrained lighter gravity constituents, may be removed from the aboutto-be rejected material, by passing it over a bar screen as Ma. The larger sizes slide over the screen to the refuse and the smaller sizes are returned to the main launder 5 by the movement of the cross conveyor #0, as shown in Figures 2 and 9. The surface area presented by the bar screen a, may be so regulated as to return only the preferred quantity of finer material to the launder 5, the remainder passing from the.

system with the rejects.

The intermediate products segregated at evacuating box I l, consisting of relatively heavy gravity middlings, may be returned to the rewash launder by opening the amber by-pass gate 42 of Figure 8, or the small sizes may be removed therefrom by the bar screen 43 and be returned to the rewash launder by conveyor 35, while the larger sizes which may, after crushing, yield significant amounts of lighter gravity materials, that can be separated and recovered upon re-washing, are carried over the bar screen by the flights of conveyor 4 and introduced into the crusher 44, to be reduced in size, whence they are then returned to the main launder by conveyor 40.

Provision is made to by-pass the crusher if preferred. The crusher is designed to be supported by the structural supports provided for the cross-conveyors and, like the screens, only occupies space available within the limits of the unit washing apparatus. The screens are so placed that the screening process is assisted by the passing of the conveyor flights over the screen surfaces.

The take-up boxes at 45, shown in detail in F gure 15, support the bushings in which rotate the axles of the sprocket wheels engaging the evacuating conveyor chains at the lower end of their travel, and since they are positioned at the lower end of the conveyor sheaths, are always under water., Minor adjustments in the distance between the driving shafts l8 and the bushings at 45, required by small changes in the length of the conveyor chains and the necessity of maintaining proper engagement of the sprocket teeth and the conveyor chain fj'links, may be made by means of this improvement. The bushing 46, within which rotates the sprocket axle, is held rigidly in the dead eye bearing 41. This bearing is in turn made fast at-a' preferred position along the wedge block 48, which is welded to the conveyor sheath, by means of the wedges and gib keys respectively 49, 50 substantially as shown. This novel design permits easy regulation of the distance between the upper and lower sprockets upon which the evacuating conveyor chains are suspended and turn; and inas-much, as afore-mentioned, the device operates constantly beneath the water level in the conveyors, and is designed to allow any required adjustments to be made without employing threaded parts which easily corrode in such situation, this new device eliminates a source of operating disturbance experienced in the prior art.

While the hereinabove described improvement in the structural design of a self-contained unit washing apparatus and its accessories for the classification of materials by the stream action of liquids according to their specific gravity has been made with reference to a scheme involving one main and one rewash launder, my invention is not intended to be so limited, and the structural innovations and features of design therein incorporated may be applied with equal advantage to installations comprising a plurality of such launders in any preferred sequence without departing from the intent of my invention. The width of the unit washing apparatus has been lim ited to substantially the combined widths of the launders and their necessary conveyor sheaths. Accessory equipment has been greatly simplified and standardized, and in addition to the operating advantages resulting from its compactness and the reduction in costs of construction and design, the unit is adapted to treat a wide range of materials requiring different processing procedures.

The invention as hereinabove set forth is embodied in particular form and manner but may be variously embodied within the scope of the claims hereinafter made.

I claim: I

1. A wet sorting apparatus for classification of minerals in a liquid stream, comprising at least a main and a rewash launder each having an upper and a lower evacuating valved device depending at spaced intervals, sheathed elevators individual to the respective evacuating devices converging at their upper ends at substantially the same elevation in horizontal alignment crosswise of the launders upstream thereof, cross conveyors upstream of the launders for conveying material from the elevators to the launders, with the sheathing for the elevators and the launders arranged closely side by side, and a unified drive common to the elevators at the upper ends thereof crosswise of the launders and elevators; and in which the drive comprises a shaft for the plurality of elevators coupled at one end with a reducing gear stub shaft by a self-aligning coupling and supported at the opposite end by a ball and socket bearing; and in which each elevator is provided at its lower end with submerged len th adjustable means comprising a wedge-block with a plurality of facing recesses, a bushing in a deadeye bearing, wedge plates engageable in said recesses and a gib key for securing the wedge plates therein; and in which the valve operating means for each of the valves of the upper evacuating devices comprise a lever above the launders, a depending link outside of the launders, between the outermost elevator and the launders, a shaft on the top of the interposed sheathing connected to the depending link and to the shaft for the up stream valve by a link underneath the outermost sheathing, said shaft extending through the interposed sheathing to the inside of the upstream evacuating device.

2. A wet sorting apparatus for classification of minerals in a liquid stream, comprising at least a main and a rewash launder each having an upper and a lower evacuating valved device depend ng at spaced intervals, sheathed elevators individual to the respective evactuating devices converging at their upper ends at substantially the same elevation in horizontal alignment cross wise oi the launders upstream thereof, cross conveyors upstream of the launders for conveying material from the elevators to the launders, with the sheathing for the elevators and the launders arranged closely side by side, and a unified drive common to the elevators at the upper ends thereof crosswise of the launders and elevators; and in which each elevator is provided at its lower end with submerged length adjustable means comprising a wedge-block with a plurality of facing recesses, a bushing in a dead-eye bearing, wedge plates engageable in said recesses and a gib key for securing the wedge plates therein; and in which the valve operating means for each of the valves of the upper evactuating devices comprise a lever above the launders, a depending link outside the launders, between the outermost elevator and the launders, a shaft on the top of the interposed sheathlng, connected to the depending link and to the shaft for the upstream valve by a link underneath the outermost sheathing, said shaft extending through the interposed sheathing to the inside of the upstream evacuating device.

3. A wet sorting apparatus for classification of minerals in a liquid stream, comprising at least a main and a rewash launder each having an upper and a lower evacuating valved device depending at spaced intervals, sheathed elevators individual to the respective evacuating devices converging at their upper ends at substantially the same elevation in horizontal alignment crosswise of the launders upstream thereof, cross conveyors upstream of the launders for conveying material from the elevators to the launders, with the sheathing for the elevators and the launders arranged closely side by side, and a unified drive common to the elevators at the upper ends thereof crosswise of the launders and elevators; and in which the valve operating means for each of the valves of the upper evactuating devices comprise a lever above the launders, a depending link outside the launders, between the outermost elevator and the launders, a shaft on the top of the interposed sheathing, connected to the depending link and to the shaft for the upstream valve by a link underneath the outermost sheathing, said shaft extending through the interposed sheathing to the inside of the upstream evactuating device.

HOMER B. SLATER. 

